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Forster snaps up top prize

Getty Images snapped up three out of the four photographic prizes presented last night at the SJA British Sports Journalism Awards, sponsored by UK Sport and staged at The Brewery in the City of London, with Stu Forster, winner of the Sports Portfolio section, named as the SJA Sports Photographer of the Year.

It is the first time that Forster has won this cherished accolade, which was first presented 30 years ago. He received the Ed Lacey Trophy from Michael Parkinson, the SJA President.

In the citation, read by Leo Mason, the chairman of the photography judges, Forster’s work, as illustrated here, was said to contain “the best action and news pictures, the greater variety of sports covered and general feature work”.

With Getty also taking the Sports News Picture through Alex Livesey’s image of Wayne Rooney coming to terms with Portugal’s Ricardo Carvalho in last summer’s World Cup, it was a good night for the world’s biggest sports photo agency, and they showed that they are also nurturing new talent, with Julian Finney taking the Young Sports Photographer award for work that the judges called “outstanding” and which included an unusual angle on tennis player Andrew Murray.

The Specialist Sports Photographer award went to the Racing Post’s staffer, Edward Whitaker.

With 100 of the best pictures from this year’s entry, the SJA has organised a touring exhibition of the photographers’ work, to help to promote sports photography in Britain.

For more on the SJA Sports Journalism Awards, click here.